[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 11, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8489-S8498]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  IN REMEMBRANCE OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Dakota.
  Mr. JOHNSON. Madam President, I rise today to commemorate the vicious 
terrorist attacks that occurred on our Nation a year ago today, 
September 11, 2001.
  Over the past few days, in large cities and small towns, in New York 
and the Pentagon today, in my home State of South Dakota, people have 
gathered to remember and to reflect upon what happened this last year.
  In many ways it still does not seem possible that a year has passed 
since the attacks of September 11, 2001. It seems too soon to look back 
and reflect on the meaning of September 11 because the events of that 
day still echo in our daily lives. The wound is still too fresh, the 
loss too great. Every American will remember exactly where they were 
when they realized that our Nation was under attack. The images of that 
day will be with us forever: The burning buildings, the endless 
television footage of airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers, the 
images of New York covered in rubble.
  I will always remember the smoke of the Pentagon as it appeared 
through a

[[Page S8490]]

too-perfect blue sky here in Washington DC. But other thoughts--
candlelight vigils, American flags adorning buildings, fences, and 
barns, the heroism of the passengers of American flight 93, and the 
lasting bravery of firefighters and other first responders--will also 
remain in our hearts as constant reminders of that day in September.
  Across the Nation and around the world, people came together to do 
what they could for the victims and their families. I was proud, but 
not at all surprised, when South Dakotans overwhelmingly responded with 
offers of blood and other assistance. Millions of dollars were donated 
by South Dakotans to relief organizations, and thousands of hours of 
time were volunteered in efforts to aid survivors and the family 
members of victims. Employees at Luverne Fire Apparatus in Brandon put 
in 2,000 hours of their own time to build a fire truck that was donated 
to New York City. Red Cross volunteers from Rapid City assisted in 
recovery efforts at the Pentagon. Farmers and ranchers throughout the 
state sold cattle and grain at auctions and livestock drives and 
donated that money to relief efforts. In one extraordinary example, Don 
and Adeline Hight of Murdo sold 100 calves and donated the proceeds, 
about $40,000, to help victims of the terrorist attacks. In Brown 
County, the Rural American Patriot Fund used the money they collected 
from fellow farmers and ranchers to buy thousands of dollars in Patriot 
Bonds. The idea of Patriot Bonds began with a call from a South Dakotan 
to my office, and were approved by the Treasury Department last 
December. Patriot Bonds, similar to World War II war bonds, allow 
Americans to support the relief and recovery efforts at the World Trade 
Center and the Pentagon and to help fund the war on terrorism.
  South Dakotans also helped to ease the emotional strain that the 
attack had on survivors and the victims' families. Police officers 
specializing in stress management from Mitchell and Yankton went to New 
York to help the police officers there deal with the emotional 
aftermath of the terrorist attacks. Lance Fillspipe, Junior Rodriguez, 
and eight other police officers from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation 
traveled to New York to help the police there handle security. Bonnie 
Riggenbach and Bob Holmes of Rapid City, both therapists, traveled to 
New York to do what they could to help people mend their lives. The 
Disaster Mental Health Institute at the University of South Dakota went 
to New York City in the wake of the September 11 attacks and played a 
key role in helping the recovery process. Students at Mount Marty 
College put together a banner signed by members of the community with 
words of sympathy and support for the city of New York. That banner is 
being considered by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the 
largest handmade banner ever made. Through gestures large and small, 
South Dakotans united with their neighbors and worked to bring 
something positive from all of the terrible destruction.
  A lot has changed in our country, and in our world, since September 
11. Our Nation has learned, to our vast sorrow, that we were not as 
untouchable as we had believed ourselves to be. Our country is involved 
in a war against terror that has taken our courageous military men and 
women, including my son Brooks, to Afghanistan as well as other far-off 
corners of the world. Our military effort in Afghanistan has helped to 
free people who were oppressed by a dictatorial regime that, in 
addition to the atrocities that the government inflicted upon its own 
people, harbored a terrorist group representing the worst humanity can 
become.
  Here on the home front, things have changed as well. Barricades have 
been erected around national monuments, the Capitol, and the White 
House. Lines are longer and security more thorough at airports. Despite 
the longer lines and tighter security, our Nation still moves and 
functions much as it has for the last 225 years. We remain a beacon of 
democracy and justice for much of the world, and I work very hard as a 
Senator to make certain that new regulations, however necessary they 
may be in our post-September 11 world, do not infringe upon the basic 
rights of our citizens that we seek to secure.
  So as we take this day to reflect upon the many lives lost last year, 
we are to reflect on the courage and heroism of those who did so much 
to save lives and defend our liberty today. We take comfort that the 
terrorists' goals were not realized--that there were attacks on 
buildings, but there were also attacks on everything America stands 
for--on individual liberty, on religious tolerance, on democracy, on 
free speech, and all the rights of our Constitution. These forces of 
hate, these forces of intolerance tried to destroy the very things that 
make this Nation strong. Buildings are being repaired but, more 
importantly, the light of democracy that holds this Nation together and 
our fundamental values burn just as brightly as it ever has.
  The United States took a hit, but we have responded aggressively, and 
America will remain a beacon of liberty and freedom for the world 
forever after.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Cantwell). The Senator from Utah.
  Mr. BENNETT. Madam President, as I contemplated what I might say here 
today, I went back in my computer and pulled up a letter I wrote on 
September 22, 2001, in response to a friend of mine who corresponded 
with me in that difficult time. He is a history professor. I have known 
him since high school. And I sat down at my computer and simply let 
things flow out. I have now decided to share that letter with the 
Senate and with the country as I look back on it after a year's time. I 
think it reflects better than anything I could create now not only my 
feelings at the time but my concern for where we should be and what we 
should be doing.
  I read the letter dated September 22, 2001:

       I have your letter, dear friend, and am moved to reply in 
     depth using you as my audience as I make an attempt to speak 
     to all the issues I see.
       I start with the President's address to the Congress last 
     Thursday. It has been called historic, one of the greatest 
     Presidential addresses ever given. It certainly had that 
     character and, listening to it in a packed chamber more 
     hushed than I can ever remember, I was struck by the power, 
     eloquence and directness of his words. From a distance of a 
     day or two, however, as I analyze it and discuss it with my 
     colleagues, I realize that the speech was more than moving 
     rhetoric. For the first time since the end of the Cold War, a 
     U.S. President has laid out a clear statement of what the 
     world is now like and what the U.S. role must be in that 
     world.
       The fact that this has not been done before is less a knock 
     on previous Presidents than a realization that, until 
     September 11, Americans in general were probably not yet free 
     of all our Cold War illusions. We are the world's only 
     remaining superpower, we told ourselves. We are a just 
     compassionate nation, we said. Ergo, we reasoned, it follows 
     that, under our vigorous stewardship, the world itself will 
     become a just and compassionate place, albeit little by 
     little.
       With Hitler and Stalin and Mao all dead, we thought, with 
     the Soviet Union gone, evil--true malevolence--has gone from 
     the world stage. It only pops up here and there in the form 
     of an isolated Serb or Somali warload.
       No more.
       Now we know that evil is alive and thriving, still 
     threatening the peace everywhere in the world. Irrational 
     hatred has not disappeared. The same mindset of fanaticism 
     that built gas chambers 60 years ago is now hijacking 
     airplanes and flying them into buildings, overseeing the 
     preparation of chemical and biological weapons of mass 
     destruction. As the President made so starkly clear, the 
     world's new enemies hate freedom as much as Hitler did, and 
     are prepared to kill millions as much as Stalin did. Evil has 
     not gone away; it has simply changed its political language 
     and its physical address.
       Our Cold War mentality told us that the trouble in the 
     Middle East was about Israel, about power politics between 
     established nation states, about borders and economics and 
     markets. I readily agree that Israel has real problems with 
     her neighbors, and they with her, but this is not about those 
     problems. It is not about Israel. It is about defending the 
     helpless against evil.
       President Bush told us that America is feeding the poor in 
     Afghanistan. I didn't know that before. Since his speech I 
     have been in briefings from those familiar with the region 
     who tell us that the Taliban uses food as a weapon, denying 
     it to those that oppose them. They say they hate us for our 
     support of Israel, but they also hate us because we are 
     trying to feed the starving in their own country, and thus 
     undermine their effort to starve everyone into submission.
       They hate us because we profane their world with our 
     notions of freedom--we ``pollute the holy places'' with 
     business people and diplomats who let women drive and appear 
     in public with bare faces. They hate us because we take the 
     youth of all countries,

[[Page S8491]]

     including theirs, into our universities and teach them about 
     science and economics and democracy, as well as about blue 
     jeans and movies and freedom to travel and open debate. 
     President Bush said it better than I can, and it was 
     necessary for him to lay all that out if the Country is to 
     ``get'' what we are facing.
       The President spoke of the diplomatic front in this war, of 
     our need for partners. . . . He reported good progress there, 
     citing Pakistan as an example. In the same briefings that 
     told us about food shipments to Afghanistan I learned that 
     the current leaders of Pakistan really don't have much of a 
     choice in this fight because they are a target themselves. 
     They hardly qualify as democrats by our definition, but the 
     radicals still hate them for even their tenuous ties to us. 
     By some estimates, the radicals are close to bringing the 
     government down and turning Pakistan into another 
     Afghanistan. The same is true, in terms of the radical's end 
     goal, in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
       The leaders of those countries know they are at risk, and 
     have been for some time. Sadat was murdered because he was 
     willing to go to Jerusalem and say, ``No more war.'' Those 
     leaders need our help and are willing to help us in return 
     because, long term, they know that the only nation with the 
     capacity to lead a world wide campaign to eliminate this evil 
     is ours. The success we are having in building a coalition of 
     partners in the first days of this conflict is one of the 
     most encouraging signs that things are, for the moment, going 
     somewhat well.
       You are a historian; you know that the Second World War 
     didn't begin on December 7th. Neither did this one begin on 
     September 11th. As was the case with Europeans in the 30's, 
     Americans have been in Foreign Policy denial in the 90's. 
     Thrilled with the demise of our four-decade Soviet enemy, we 
     read articles about the ``end of history'' and ignored the 
     signs that were there to be seen. Now we have to go back and 
     examine those signs . . .
       We must realize that we are truly at war, and, as was the 
     case in 1941, really have been for some time. The embassy 
     bombings, the attack on the U.S.S. Cole, the intelligence 
     warnings--all these should have told us that this is a war 
     and not, as some of the commentators have described it, a law 
     enforcement problem. What's the difference? . . .  In a war 
     you focus on prevention of attack, not punishment. You . . . 
     go after the enemy's assets to destroy them before they can 
     be used to destroy you, gather the best intelligence you can 
     and then play hunches and probabilities. You don't give out 
     Miranda warnings.
       Please accept my assurance that our leaders know how 
     different and difficult this war will be. They know that we 
     have to have partners, and that many of these partners have 
     internal problems that will prevent them from being the kind 
     of ``allies'' on which we could traditionally count. . . . 
     The team that President Bush has assembled is experienced, 
     intellectually nuanced in its understanding, and deep. Down 
     below the level of Cheney, Powell, Rumsfeld and Rice is a 
     significant bench of very solid players who understand what 
     we are up against. . . .
       So there we are. It has fallen our lot . . . to be the 
     leader of the free world in a struggle that is global and 
     against an enemy that is fanatic, decentralized, persistent, 
     completely fearless and very, very patient . . . . bin Laden 
     and his fellow fanatics have decided that they can defeat 
     [us] . . . by keeping intact their capacity to visit horror 
     on us at unexpected times. We will not have won until that 
     capacity is destroyed. This will be a very long, tricky and 
     difficult fight.
       But, as the President said, we will win it. And it will be 
     worth it. The stakes are nothing less than they were in 1941 
     and through the Cold War years, for us and for all the rest 
     of those who want to live in freedom.
  Madam President, reading that a year later, I still feel the same 
way.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Connecticut.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that I be 
recognized to speak for up to 10 minutes in this slot previously 
reserved for the Senator from Illinois and that Senator Durbin be 
recognized to speak in the next Democratic slot.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LIEBERMAN. I thank the Chair.
  Madam President, it is truly an honor to have the opportunity to come 
and speak on the floor of the Senate today. This is one of those days 
when the Senate Chamber is really the people's forum, when the partisan 
or ideological or regional or whatever differences that sometimes 
separate us in votes fall aside and we stand here before the Chair, 
under the slogan that describes us--``E pluribus unum,'' ``Out of many, 
one''--and truly represent the common and shared values, hopes, and 
aspirations of our people.
  I am proud of what my colleagues have said thus far in this 
discussion and very grateful to be a part of it.
  In New York City today, they are reading the names of the victims, 
the names of 3,000 of God's children, magnificent in their 
characteristic American diversity, whose lives were savagely taken on 
September 11 of last year simply because they were American. None of us 
here can say anything as powerful or profound as the recitation of 
those names today.
  The Pentagon, the World Trade Center, and that field outside 
Shanksville, PA, will forever be hallowed battlegrounds, places where 
we will take our children to stand silently and contemplate their 
meaning, places of worship, really, where we will revere the lives lost 
and honor their place in our history.
  This morning, as I left the very moving and unifying commemorative 
rededication service at the Pentagon, I came across a family, and I 
said hello and shook their hands, and I realized these were survivors 
of a man killed in the Pentagon on September 11 of last year: A young 
boy about 10 or 12 years old, full of innocence and youth, a great 
looking kid, carrying an American flag in a case--I presume the flag 
that was either placed over his father's coffin or given to him in 
memory of his father--a woman, who was the wife of the deceased and his 
parents--strong American stock--a man wearing the cap of a veteran, 
tears under his eyes. And there it was: A son without a father, a woman 
without her husband, parents without their child. I was speechless. 
There was nothing I could say except to shake their hands and put my 
hands over my heart.
  In some ways, silence is a more appropriate response to the dreadful 
losses that were suffered on September 11. Silence, somehow, speaks 
more loudly to the horror and the complicated feelings that we all had 
on that day. Nevertheless, we must speak, to reflect on what happened 
that day, in the year that has passed, and to try to learn from that 
day and chart our way forward.
  Madam President, our enemies hoped that September 11, 2001, would be 
the first page of a new chapter in world history: The end of the 
American century; the end of America as we know it; the beginning of a 
civilizational conflict, based on theological differences, taken to an 
inhumane extreme, which would end in the victory of radical extreme 
Islam.
  As a distinguished Muslim citizen of Connecticut said yesterday at a 
public ceremony, al-Qaida hijacked his religion.
  In this the terrorists betrayed their ignorance, not just about Islam 
but about America; not just about the American people but American 
democracy and its values.
  I wish to speak for a moment about this conflict that September 11 
has put us into and the differences between us and our enemies, which 
is what this is all about. This is not a simple struggle for power. 
This is a global conflict for values, for ideals. We are idealists. We 
and our many allies around the world, including so many millions in the 
Muslim world, believe in the inalienable and inviolable rights of every 
individual. Our enemies are craven cynics who desire raw power for 
themselves and seek to crush those who look or act or think 
differently. They claim to be religious, but how can they be religious 
and faithful in any way in which any of the world's religions 
understand it, if they are prepared to kill thousands of God's children 
allegedly in the name of God?
  We are different. We are optimists. We grant people liberty, not as 
the gift of politicians but as our Declaration of Independence says: As 
the endowment of our Creator. We have confidence that a society 
governed by its people will progress, and that is why we seek to open 
the world and broaden the community of nations living under democracy, 
as we have so magnificently since the fall of the Berlin Wall.
  Our enemies are not just pessimists; they are fatalists. They fear 
the voices of the people. They want to bring down a theological iron 
curtain to divide the world into acceptable and unacceptable people and 
nations and faiths, to those worthy of living and those targeted for 
death and domination.
  Third, we are skeptics in a very healthy way. We question one another 
and ourselves. We are proud of who we are but not so proud that we 
pretend to be without fault. Our enemies proceed with a chilling sense 
of certainty and an unwillingness to look at themselves in the mirror.
  It is those values that have guided us through our history and 
distinguish us

[[Page S8492]]

now from our enemies. The men and women of our military performed 
brilliantly in unfamiliar territory against an unprecedented foe. Our 
police officers, firefighters, and other first responders have had 
reason to despair, but they have risen to the immense challenge and 
reminded us of what heroism they display every day. Every day Americans 
in our communities have had reason to lose faith and to turn from hope 
to fear, but they have not faltered. They have come together, finding 
our strength, not losing our optimism and our courage.
  Here in Congress, though we still have work to do, we have faced the 
new reality of the post-September 11 world. We have asked tough 
questions of ourselves. We have supported our President as Commander in 
Chief. We have realized that we have not been as prepared as we should 
have been on September 11 last year, and we are taking steps to close 
our vulnerabilities.
  As we do, we must remember that September 11 was not just a tragedy 
that happened. It was not just a natural disaster. It was an unnatural 
disaster, carried out as an intentional act by people who were evil.
  That is why, as Charles Krauthammer wrote in the Washington Post a 
while ago, we must understand this anniversary as more than a day of 
mourning and solemn remembrance. It must be not just a day of 
commemoration but a day of rededication. Charles Krauthammer wrote:

       We would pay such homage had the World Trade Center and the 
     Pentagon collapsed in an earthquake. They did not. And 
     because they did not, more is required than mere homage and 
     respect. Not just sorrow, but renewed anger. Not just 
     consolation, but renewed determination. . . .

  We will build beautiful memorials to those killed on September 11, 
but there are other memorials that we here in Congress can and must 
build: a Department of Homeland Security that does everything humanly 
possible to prevent anything such as September 11 from recurring, and 
it need not recur. We must support and encourage our military to search 
out and destroy or capture al-Qaida wherever they exist. We must reach 
out to the Muslim world, the great majority who are not fanatics or 
extremists, who suffer from a lack of freedom and a lack of material 
resources and hope, and offer them the support and the freedom that 
they desire and that is ultimately the best defense against the evil 
terrorism of the minority in the Islamic world that al-Qaida 
represents.
  As we approach the great debate in this Chamber on the questions 
around Saddam Hussein and Iraq, we must remember the lessons of 
September 11. As we look back, having heard the warnings of Osama bin 
Laden, having experienced the attack against the World Trade Center in 
1993, against the two embassies in Africa, against the U.S.S. Cole, as 
we look back, don't we wish we had taken the kind of action we are 
taking today to destroy al-Qaida?
  In her foreword to ``At Home In The World,'' a collection of Daniel 
Pearl's writings in the Wall Street Journal, his widow Mariane Pearl 
wrote:

       The terrorists who killed Danny stood at the other extreme 
     of what Danny represents. They could only wield their knife 
     and cowardice against Danny's intellectual courage and bold 
     spirit. Danny died holding only a pen. They stole his life 
     but were unable to seize his soul. By killing Danny, 
     terrorists took my life as well but could not lay claim to my 
     spirit. We will never let them win.

  So, too, the terrorists may have killed 3,000 innocent Americans on 
September 11 of last year, but they will never lay claim to America's 
living spirit. We will never let them win.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kansas.
  Mr. BROWNBACK. Madam President, I rise to speak about the events of 1 
year ago. I am delighted to follow my colleague, Senator Lieberman of 
Connecticut, with whom I have worked and will continue to do so. I add 
my name to his comments.
  Today we are gathered to remember those who lost their lives on 
September 11, to honor those who sacrificed everything for the concept 
of and belief in freedom. That day and every day since then are stark 
and simple reminders that freedom is not free and that it is never 
secure.
  This is something the people of my home State of Kansas have long 
understood. Our very motto is ``ad astra per aspera''--``To the stars 
through difficulties.'' We have lived this every day, every year since 
before we were a State.
  It is also a theme our entire Nation embraces today. We were not 
bowed by last September's attack. In fact, we arose from the ashes 
stronger and more resilient than ever.
  ``The greatest victories come when people dare to be great,'' Ronald 
Reagan said, ``when they summon their spirits to brave the unknown and 
go forward together to reach a greater good.''
  In the days immediately following that fateful day, we summoned our 
spirits and went forward together. We dared to be great.
  As you look at the memorials, and as you listen to the speeches of 
remembrance, think of the sacrifice of all those involved, and of the 
lives cut short, the promises broken, the happiness destroyed. It is 
all too easy to cloak these sacrifices in mere platitudes. We must 
remember exactly what it means to sacrifice and what exactly was 
sacrificed.
  These were not nameless, faceless people who just simply acted out 
some role. These were sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, 
sisters, mothers, and fathers. They were scared men and women who had 
thrust upon them the part of hero, and they lived up to the billing.
  It is also too easy to just call them heroes and walk away. It is not 
easy to recognize the fear and the strength and the courage they 
exhibited on that particular day.
  I have been particularly taken now, reading stories of the heroes of 
9/11 and the miracles that happened on that day--stories that we are 
all familiar with now--Todd Beamer and ``let's roll,'' and the flight 
that went into the field in Pennsylvania, which was the very flight 
headed for this building. It probably would have reached its target had 
they not been heroes on that day. Would this place even be here now? It 
may have been rebuilt, but would we be back here yet? How many lives 
would have been lost here?
  I read last Friday in USA Today about miracles of 9/11. Some police 
officers, one a rookie, went into the south tower; they were buried in 
20 feet of rubble. Three of them were together. The first was killed in 
the first crushing, but two survived and they were able to crawl 
around. The second tower came down and they were pinned underneath the 
rubble and stayed there almost 24 hours. They could see a light about 
20 feet up, and they knew there was a possibility they would get out. 
As they faded in and out of consciousness during the night, one of them 
had a vision, it said in USA Today. The vision he saw was Jesus coming 
toward him, bringing him a bottle of water. It gave him strength. He 
wasn't fearful of death. He was able to reach out with strength and 
yell for help. They were eventually found by a marine and were dug out 
from the rubble. That is one of the miracles of 9/11.
  I think of the heroes that were going up the tower, instead of coming 
down, on 9/11. It was an amazing day, a tragic day, one we should not 
and we won't forget.
  Also, sometimes it is easy to think that perhaps life does not change 
that much when actually life has irrevocably changed. It is not that 
life doesn't go on; it certainly does. We must never forget.
  As author Elie Wiesel said in his Nobel lecture:

       For me, hope without memory is like memory without hope. 
     Just as a man cannot live without dreams, he cannot live 
     without hope. If dreams reflect the past, hope summons the 
     future. Does this mean that our future can be built on a 
     rejection of the past? Surely, such a choice is not 
     necessary. The two are incompatible. The opposite of the past 
     is not the future, but the absence of the future; the 
     opposite of the future is not the past, but the absence of 
     the past. The loss of one is equivalent to the sacrifice of 
     the other.

  We must not forget our past or the attacks or the outpouring of 
generosity and patriotism and simple kindnesses in the days following 
the attacks. All of this must continue. We cannot return to the safety 
of our homes and pretend the storms buffeting the lives of people 
hundreds and thousands of miles away does not affect us.
  September 11 was a wake-up call that we cannot and will not forget. 
It has changed us. It has changed us in substantial ways that we can 
see and feel,

[[Page S8493]]

and in ways that I don't think we have wrestled with yet.
  One simple thing: ``God Bless America'' has become a national song--
not the National Anthem but the national song. We gathered again today 
as Members of the Congress on the steps and sang it as we did on 
September 11. I hope we can officially continue to do that. Even though 
it was unofficial today, I hope our national song will become official.
  We are a nation founded by men and women who are willing to stake 
their lives upon the conviction of universal rights and freedoms; that 
this was larger than their own lives and small roles that they felt 
they would play; that their actions were just a shot across history's 
bow on behalf of all people who both desired to be free and honored the 
sense of duty that liberty engendered.
  On September 11 we saw a number of people step forward to recognize 
and fight for those universal rights and freedoms, each of us in our 
own way in our own actions. Today, we still have a torch to carry--for 
all those who died on September 11, all those who have died in the war 
against terrorism, and all peoples across the world who desire freedom.
  These may seem to be the worst of times, but we are resilient and, 
most importantly, we are a hopeful people and we will prevail. There is 
a Biblical verse that says:

  And not only so, but we glory in tribulation also: knowing that 
tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, 
hope: and hope maketh not ashamed. . . .

  We are a hopeful people. God bless America.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois is recognized.
  Mr. DURBIN. Madam President, I joined my colleagues in the Senate 
this morning on a trip to the Pentagon. The project there is known as 
the Phoenix Project, and those familiar with mythology know that the 
Phoenix is the great bird that rose from the ashes and flew again. 
Well, the spirit of America was flying again this morning at the 
Pentagon as we looked at a restored building--more importantly, a 
restored spirit.
  The President, the Secretary of Defense, and others spoke. We all 
gathered--thousands of us--to pay tribute to those who lost their lives 
on September 11 there, as well as the victims in Pennsylvania and in 
New York.
  As our buses came back, there were a number of people gathered in 
Washington on The Mall. Many of them were--in their own way, with their 
families and friends--commemorating September 11. As I passed, I saw 
one man standing there with a handwritten sign that said ``United in 
Memory.'' I thought that really captures what we are doing today. We 
have stood united since September 11, but today we reflect. We are 
united in memory. We grieve for the victims. We mourn those who died.
  But we also stand in praise of those heroes of September 11. Each one 
of us carries certain images in our minds of where we were when we 
heard it, what we did. For most of us, the first calls were to our 
families, and maybe it was indeed proper that we would turn to those we 
love the most to make certain they were safe.
  I still remember images of that day, and the days following, just as 
real as the moment when I experienced it. One was a photograph from the 
New York Times, which showed a New York firefighter racing up the 
stairs, as you saw a long line of people racing down the stairs of the 
World Trade Center. A young, handsome face--probably a man with a 
family himself, thrusting himself into the jaws of that disaster in the 
hope that he could save someone's life.
  Many like him--firefighters, policemen, first responders, medics, and 
others--gave their lives on September 11. They got up that morning and 
put their badges and uniforms on and probably never thought twice about 
whether they would return to their families. Sadly, many never did. 
They are truly American heroes.
  I can recall a few weeks later being out on Lake Michigan, near 
Chicago, in a Coast Guard vessel with the young men who were keeping 
12-hour shifts, patrolling the shores to keep them safe, checking every 
vessel that came on the Great Lakes. Most people in Chicago didn't even 
know they were there. But they were--every single day.
  I can remember, as well, the Capitol Police just outside this door 
and around this complex, who worked 12-hour shifts day after day, week 
after week, to protect us, to protect the visitors, to protect the 
staff, to protect this great building after September 11. They are 
truly American heroes.
  In January, as part of the first congressional delegation to visit 
Afghanistan in the daylight hours, we went to Bagram Air Force Base. It 
was an old Soviet base, and we were using it as part of our efforts to 
liberate Afghanistan from the Taliban.

  To sit down with those young men and women in uniform who had missed 
Christmas with their families, did not know how long they were going to 
be there, and just to talk with them and eat with them and share some 
stories about home, and to have one young man come up to me and say: 
Senator, I am from Illinois. Can I ask you a favor? When I come back 
after this, could you give me a helping hand?
  I said: Sure, what is it?
  He said: I would like to become an American citizen.
  I said: Wait a minute, you're a soldier here.
  He said: Yes, I am. I was born in Panama, and I am not an American 
citizen. Will you help me become an American citizen?
  I said: You got it, buddy; whatever you want, I will be there.
  I also remember another incident in the middle of December. I flew 
into O'Hare, and I went down to get in the line for a taxicab. I drew a 
taxicab, and the driver was wearing a black turban and a beard. As we 
started to move along, I said: Excuse me, sir, would you happen to be a 
member of the Sikh religion?
  He said: Yes, I am.
  I remember I had been visited by Muslims, Sikhs, and others worried 
about people who would discriminate against them, and I knew a little 
bit about some of the terrible things that happened to them--they were 
isolated, but that did happen.
  I said to the taxicab driver: How have things been for you over the 
last several months, wearing your turban, trying to be a regular 
taxicab driver?
  He said: Most people couldn't be nicer. There were bad ones, too. 
Some cussed me out; some wouldn't get in my cab. They think I am a 
terrorist, too.
  He said most people could not be nicer. He said: I have been in the 
United States for 33 years. I wish they would get in my cab because I 
would like to show them something.
  I said: What is that?
  He reached over and pulled down the visor, and there was a photograph 
of a young man in a U.S. Army uniform.
  He said: I want to show them a picture of my son Michael.
  I said: Michael is in the Army?
  He said: Oh, yes; he was in Kosovo.
  I said: Where is he now?
  He said: He is with the Special Forces in Afghanistan, and I haven't 
heard from him in 6 weeks.
  I thought to myself: Boy, does that tell the American story. Here we 
have a man who some, with little education or learning, in their 
ignorance, would say is an enemy of America. No, that man is a loyal 
American who was offering his greatest treasure on Earth, his son, to 
our Nation to serve and who was in harm's way at that very moment.
  Just a few weeks ago, four widows from the World Trade Center came to 
see me. They want a public investigation of what happened leading up to 
September 11. I completely support them. I think it is now overdue. We 
should do it.
  They talked about their experiences with their families. They told 
their stories over and over in all the Senate offices. Some of them 
carried around their necks photographs of husbands and families.
  I remember one saying: I am lucky. My three friends here do not have 
any evidence of their husbands they lost, but I was a lucky one because 
they found a hand, and on that hand was my husband's wedding ring which 
I now have on my hand. That is all that survived.

  She was grateful for that one memento of his life and how much it 
meant to her, and what a reminder it is to all of us of the true grief 
and loss that so many families have endured.

[[Page S8494]]

  I suppose the lesson from September 11 should be clear: Let all those 
around the world who would attack the United States know that they will 
pay a heavy price. We approve of that. But also let everyone around the 
world know that we are not an aggressive, angry people. We are a caring 
and compassionate nation, and if others will reach out with a hand of 
peace, we will extend ours as well, no matter where you are from, no 
matter what your religion or ethnic or cultural background. Osama bin 
Laden and al-Qaida did not understand that, but we in America 
understand it well.
  When I reach back in history for words that bring inspiration, I so 
often turn to one of our favorite sons, Abraham Lincoln from Illinois, 
and his second inaugural address right outside this building in which 
he said:

       With malice toward none; with charity for all; with 
     firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let 
     us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the 
     nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the 
     battle, and for his widow, and his orphan--to do all which 
     may achieve and cherish a just, and a lasting peace, among 
     ourselves, and with all nations.

  Lincoln said those words as we came to the close of the most 
devastating war in our history. He reached out to try to find common 
ground, even with the enemy, to bind this Nation. So, too, should we 
reach out in this world to tell the story of America, to help build a 
more peaceful world, a world where our children and grandchildren never 
have to fear another September 11.
  After September 11, we were not just united in anger, not just united 
in sympathy. We were united in memory and united in hope--hope for a 
world of peace, hope that our children and children around the world 
will be spared the horror, the disaster, and the tragedy of September 
11.
  Madam President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Kentucky.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Madam President, as we observe the 1-year passing of 
the day al-Qaida attacked America, we have in our hearts, our thoughts, 
and our prayers the victims and their families. On this painful 
anniversary, they do not stand alone in their grief. All Americans of 
all faiths, colors, and creeds mourn the senseless loss of life on 
September 11, 2001.
  The war on terrorism is a fight against evil forces bent on 
destroying America and our many freedoms. President Bush said this war 
will be unlike any we have ever seen, and he is certainly right. This 
is a war without borders and one in which the battle must be brought to 
the enemy, lest terrorists strike again on our own soil.
  In the long proud arc of our Republic, America's courage has been too 
great, its values too strong, and its freedoms too dear to ever be 
turned back by an enemy. As we stand at the beginning of a new century, 
I am certain in the knowledge that we will prevail again.
  Madam President, the watchwords for Kentuckians and all Americans on 
this day must be: Never again.
  I think we can safely say that 1 year after September 11, 2001, we 
have ended the first chapter in the book about the war on terrorism. 
But the second chapter is going to be, in many ways, much more 
challenging.
  The President and many of us in this Chamber are haunted by the 
notion that a year ago today, had those planes been full of something 
other than gasoline--a chemical weapon, a biological weapon or, worse 
still, a nuclear weapon--all of the destruction that we remember so 
vividly today would have been dramatically worse.
  We will have before us in the Senate in the next few weeks a 
resolution giving the President the authority he will be seeking, and 
we will need to give him, to begin to launch the second chapter in this 
war, which is to target weapons of mass destruction, wherever they may 
be in the world, in the hands of leaders or gangs who wish to use them 
against our own people here at home.
  This is a new doctrine the President will be laying down. In the 
past, we have turned the other cheek, if you will; we have waited to be 
attacked, and then we have responded. But that approach, when one 
considers the devastation of weapons of mass destruction, is simply 
unacceptable. The American people will not accept a strategy based upon 
responding after the next attack on our own soil using weapons of mass 
destruction.
  This will be one of the most important debates we will have in the 
history of this body, and it will come up in the next few weeks. It 
will be an appropriate memorial and remembrance to those who lost their 
lives a year ago today as a result of a conventional attack. Were they 
alive today, I am sure they would applaud our efforts to prevent 
another attack with weapons even more devastating on other Americans 
here at home.
  Make no mistake about it, this is the new challenge of the 21st 
century: Weapons of mass destruction in the hands of gangs such as al-
Qaida or regimes such as the one in Baghdad used on Americans here at 
home by people who really are against modernity, who want to roll the 
clock back to the Middle Ages where women had no rights, where people 
had no opportunity to speak or to worship as they chose.
  This is a war between modernity and the Middle Ages. Our enemies are 
quite intelligent and resourceful, and this challenge is going to go on 
for quite some time.
  In conclusion, this would be a fitting memorial to those who died a 
year ago today, that America in a very proactive way seeks to prevent 
the next attack in the United States using weapons of mass destruction.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Idaho.
  Mr. CRAIG. Madam President, I think all Americans today are pausing, 
if not for a moment, for a longer time just to think, to kneel and 
pray. On their mind is a historic incident that occurred a year ago 
today in this country.
  Many of my colleagues and I went to the Pentagon this morning to 
recognize that great tragedy once again and to be there to honor those 
184 civilian and military men and women who tragically died in the 
Pentagon when it was struck by terrorists.
  There is no doubt in my mind, and my guess is there is no doubt in 
any American's mind, they again relived the events of the phenomenal 
and tragic incident that occurred a year ago today, both mentally and 
visually on television or in ceremonies or prayers or moments of 
silence around this country.
  In rethinking that day myself, I thought of my own emotions; that I 
grew angry at first to realize we were being attacked by terrorists. 
Then I experienced for a moment on Capitol Hill that day a sense of 
fear that maybe the Capitol itself would be struck, or our office 
buildings, and that my staff might be in some way injured or my family 
may not be safe. Out of that fear, though, grew in my mind, and grew in 
most Americans' minds, a phenomenal sense of resolve.
  Since that tragic day, we have seen that resolve take shape in so 
many forms, whether it is the celebrating of a complete reconstruction 
of the Pentagon today in almost unbelievable time, or whether it was 
citizens across this Nation reaching deep in their pocket to give a 
little or a lot of their personal wealth to help the remaining citizens 
whose husbands, wives, sons, or daughters were the victims of the 9/11 
incidents.
  As I was listening to our Secretary of Defense and our President 
today, I thought of two Idahoans who died a year ago today at the 
Pentagon, one LTC Ron Vauk of Nampa, ID, and one Brady Howell of Sugar 
City, ID.

  I have known LTC Hawk only by a piece of paper. When I was a young 
Member in the House of Representatives, I had looked at his resume. I 
had studied his grades and I, along with the rest of my colleagues, had 
decided he was eligible for and ought to be nominated to the Naval 
Academy at Annapolis. We did nominate him, and he served with honor.
  He had retired out of the military and was serving in the Navy 
Reserve, teaching in this area. He was serving only as a reservist at 
the Pentagon in a temporary status for a few days, having been called 
from his job to do so when that plane struck. I will never forget the 
time I spent with his bride and their small son in Maryland. I watched 
the unity of that family coming around the widow and that small son of 
LTC Ron Vauk. That was the kind of resolve we have seen repeated time 
and time again out of the tear-

[[Page S8495]]

stained faces of Americans as they recognized that they had to commit 
themselves, as our President and as this Congress has committed itself, 
to never letting this happen again.
  I remembered Jennifer Vauk today, and I can only say to that brave 
widow that I thank her for her courageousness at this tremendously 
difficult time for her. Resolve and resilience flowing from the veins 
of Americans into the energy of their souls clearly speaks so well in 
this country today. It is not just a 9/11 feeling, it is a sense of 
patriotism and resolve that has grown out of nearly every crisis this 
great country has experienced down through the years. It comes in all 
different forms.
  At this instance, in Idaho, it was the Red Cross sending volunteers 
all the way across the country to Ground Zero in New York, or it was 
the numerous churches or memorial services held across the State of 
Idaho, or it was a marvelous little gal in Pocatello who had saved 
$1,000 of her own money to buy a horse, and she gave all of it to the 
9/11 charities so some other child could have a little bit because that 
child had lost so much, a mother or a father.
  It was not just an Idahoan doing it. It was thousands of Americans 
speaking out from the smallest, almost the poorest, to the tallest and 
the most wealthy in our country who found the capacity in their heart 
to experience this resolve and dedicate themselves, as did Leah Wright 
in Pocatello with her $1,000.
  I suspect every generation has a defining moment. My guess is that 
September 11 is the defining moment for America's current generation. 
Our President, in speaking today, has given a name for all of us who 
would call it 9/11. It will be a Patriots Day, and I hope that every 
year we stop to remember Patriots Day and why we now recognize it in 
that capacity.
  Congress is now debating legislation to create homeland security as a 
department, hopefully to bring our country together more cohesively, to 
allow our law enforcement communities to do so in a way that will give 
us greater intelligence and therefore greater resolve. In doing so, we 
must not allow terrorism, or our commitment to stopping it, deny us our 
own personal freedoms. We should never select security over freedom 
because it is the very freedom of our country that gives us the resolve 
we have today. Tragically enough, it was the very freedom of our 
country that caused terrorists to strike at us because we do not speak 
of freedom for Americans only, we speak of it for all citizens of the 
world and citizens of all countries as a right of humankind to be as 
free as possible, and for this great country to be dedicated to that 
freedom.
  In our search for security, let us not deny ourselves the very 
freedom that is the strength of our country.
  Many more will speak today, and at the end of the day many tears will 
be re-shed in memory of the men and women who died on 9/11. I am so 
proud of my country and so proud to be but a small part of its 
leadership because I have sensed in the Senate that while we may have 
our differences politically, a resolve all Americans have at this 
moment is to never allow this to happen again, never allow our citizens 
to be the target of an enemy that would choose to strike them down for 
political expression.
  So be it 9/11 or be it Patriots Day, I hope on September 11 next year 
we will once again be speaking out about that day on September 11 of 
2001 when thousands of Americans lost their lives, but America found 
once again a revitalized reason for being what we are and striving to 
allow the rest of the world to have the same kind of human freedoms we 
have and cherish.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.
  Mr. FRIST. Madam President, though we would never wish to relive the 
horror of September 11, 2001, we must dedicate ourselves to 
appropriately remembering it. That is the task we begin with this first 
anniversary of that darkest of days, to properly and lastingly honor 
the sacrifice of the more than 3,000 women, men, and children who 
perished at the Pentagon, at the World Trade Center, at the crash site 
of flight 93 in Shanksville, PA.
  September 11 will be a day of mourning for many years to come. And it 
should be, for the grief of those who lost loved ones on that day will 
pass only with their passing. Nothing can wipe away the memory of a 
friend or a family member taken before their time. The victims of 
September 11--those who died and the friends and family who survived 
them--deserve our enduring respect.
  Though the attacks were carried out in New York, Washington, and 
Pennsylvania, no American was left untouched by this tragedy. That 
includes the men and women of my home State of Tennessee. I think of 
John and Pat Lenoir of Knoxville who lost their son, Rob, when the 
World Trade Center collapsed. Francis Hall of Knoxville lost her 
sister-in-law. And Otis and Nancy Tolbert of Brentwood, TN, lost their 
son when flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. We keep those Tennesseans 
in our thoughts and prayers today.
  It is entirely appropriate that the President and First Lady began 
their September 11 by attending a church service. I hope Americans all 
across this country follow their example by spending some part of their 
day in a house of worship or on bended knee in prayer. Regardless of 
the God we may worship, faith in a higher power can help heal and 
explain and console and reassure us today, just as it did a year ago.
  Though September 11 attacks did bring one of the darkest days in our 
history, a few rays of light did shine through. Americans rallied to 
help those in need by waiting hours to give blood, by donating supplies 
to the rescue effort, by digging deep in their own pockets for the 
September 11 charities. I am especially proud of the Tennessee Baptist 
Convention that sent 30 volunteers to prepare food for the rescue 
workers at the World Trade Center.
  I am still moved to this day, as we were at the Pentagon a few hours 
ago, by the presence of members of the Tennessee Task Force One who 
helped search for survivors and recover the fallen at the Pentagon.
  America will always remember the men and women who risked their lives 
to save the lives of others on September 11: Those on the front line, 
the medical personnel, the firemen, the police officers, all who rushed 
into harm's way, who forever touched our hearts with their heroism. 
Their example exists, survives, as an inspiration to us all. It will 
remain so for generations to come.
  Britt Brewster, a 12-year-old Tennessee girl, who came up yesterday 
from Tennessee to participate in the remembrance services said earlier 
this week:

       The one good thing [about September 11] was that America 
     started coming together as one.

  I remember visiting Ground Zero with about 40 of my colleagues from 
this body a couple days after the attacks. Smoke was still rising from 
the debris. Almost everything was covered with the fine ash. The only 
color, other than the workmen's bright yellow hats, was the American 
flags that hung so proudly posted on the buildings around that World 
Trade Center site. We should fly our flags on this anniversary and show 
our common love for country and our fellow countrymen.

  There has been much debate about what we should teach our children on 
this first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. I believe they need 
to know the truth. I had the opportunity to take my wife and my three 
teenage boys to Ground Zero about 2 months after the attacks. I wanted 
them to see firsthand the destruction with their very own eyes and 
remember, long after I am gone and my generation is gone, what evil 
once did--and, I should add, can do again--to our country. I will take 
them back to New York. We were just there 5 days ago and saw the 
rebirth, the vitality of that remarkable city. I also want my sons to 
see what good can be done, and can always be done, in our country.
  The Gettysburg Address is considered one of the most powerful pieces 
of funeral oratory ever delivered on American soil. As Lincoln himself 
admitted, even he could not dedicate the battlefield beyond what those 
who fell there had already done. Instead, he urged his audience at the 
time to dedicate themselves, ``that from these honored dead we take 
increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full 
measure of devotion.''

[[Page S8496]]

  The terrorists attacked on September 11 and continue to make deadly 
threats because they hate our country and everything we represent. The 
3,000 women, men, and children who died on that tragic day did so for 
the same cause as those who fell on the battle green of Lexington, and 
the forests of Argonne, and on the beaches of Normandy--justice, 
equality, liberty, democracy.
  I urge every American to offer their respects to families who lost 
loved ones, to put those who perished in their prayers, and to show 
their patriotism by unfurling the American flag. But above all, I hope 
we will rededicate ourselves to those values, to the values that have 
been the core of the greatness of our country for more than two and a 
quarter centuries. Those values may be threatened sooner than we may 
think. If they are, we will find strength and hope and resolve in 
remembering, properly and lastingly, September 11, 2001.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Mr. SARBANES. Madam President, this past year, has been one of 
tragedy and challenge for the American people. Just a year ago, on 
September 11, 2001, we experienced a dawning national tragedy.
  Just as the workday was beginning--8:46 a.m. to be precise--
terrorists struck this country in a series of savage attacks. Over 
3,000 were killed and many more were injured. Those attacks struck a 
vicious blow at every American everywhere.
  Over the past year we have labored with the highest degree of human 
spirit to address our grievous losses--as individuals, in our families, 
in our communities, and as a nation. At the same time, we have worked 
hard to deal with the challenges that confront us now and into the 
future. We are resolved to put an end to the scourge of terrorism and 
to bring its perpetrators to justice. Our response to terrorism must be 
committed and complex, for no simple solution or single action can 
accomplish our goal. We must engage in the broadest possible 
international effort, for we know that terrorists are not contained by 
national borders. As we move forward, we take our inspiration from the 
calm determination and steely resolve of the firefighters, police, 
emergency personnel, and airline passengers who responded to the 
attacks, and from the resilience of those who are rebuilding lives and 
families and communities.
  And we shall move forward, for we have families to care for, 
neighbors to look after, jobs that must be done, and civic obligations 
that must be met. The events of September 11, 2001, were tragic beyond 
measure, but our response to those events demonstrates the great 
strength of America and provides a new sense of what it means to be an 
American. The future of our Nation is ours to make.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, a year ago today our Nation was 
savagely attacked in maybe the most evil attack ever on American soil. 
Over 3,000 innocent people were killed. I call it an evil attack 
because how can it be more evil than to kill people who are totally 
innocent--men, women, and children?
  The attack on the World Trade Center was an attack on the United 
States, on our economic beliefs and foundations. The attack on the 
Pentagon was an attack on our national security and defense. Flight 93 
was, we now find out, headed for the Capitol, an attack on our 
democracy. I thank God for the heroes, the passengers on the plane.
  A lot of heroes came out as a result of these savage attacks a year 
ago--men and women who were running into the buildings, not away from 
the buildings; into the buildings to save lives.
  It is amazing. If you look at the pictures we have seen in the last 
few days of the World Trade Center and Pentagon--it is amazing that 
there are only 3,000 that were lost. That number could have been 
significantly higher. If you look at the devastation in New York City 
alone, it would not have been hard to imagine 20,000 lost, not 3,000. 
It probably would have been 20,000 lives lost had it not been for the 
courageous acts of firemen and policemen and fellow workers putting 
their own safety at risk to save other lives, not to mention the 
passengers on flight 93 who kept that plane from running into our 
Capitol, from hitting our Capitol. I cannot imagine the loss that would 
have happened, not just the loss of life--of Senators and Congressmen, 
our staffs, our employees, our security officers--but also the effect 
it would have on democracy. I shudder to think what would have happened 
if they would have hit our Nation's Capitol.
  Today I joined with the President and many others in rededicating the 
Pentagon. It is great to see the Pentagon rebuilt, and my compliments 
go to the workers and others who rebuilt such a wonderful building in 
such a short period of time. But we also remember the loss of life in 
each of these instances.
  In the Pentagon, a former employee and personal friend of mine, 
Barbara Olson, was killed. She was a passenger on that airplane. My 
heart still aches for Ted Olson and their family. What a terrible loss 
that was, taking the life of a person who was so bright, had so much 
life, was so engaged in the political life of our country. To have that 
life taken is just a very sad tragedy. To think that is multiplied by 
3,000 times all across the country, it is a very sad reminder of the 
enormous tragedy we have suffered.
  It reminds me of the Oklahoma City bombing we suffered on April 19, 
1995. In Oklahoma City, we lost 168 lives. I knew some of those people 
as well. When you know somebody it makes it more personal. It is not 
just 3,000 lives. You realize it is individual families and some of 
those families were totally devastated and their futures enormously 
changed, if not destroyed because of this senseless, cowardly, evil 
attack that happened a year ago.
  Like Oklahoma City, we had a lot of heroes. The heroes, the firemen 
who raced into the building, the heroes on flight 93, the heroes who 
were saving lives in the Pentagon, the medical personnel and others who 
saved countless lives, in some cases they gave up their life in order 
to save lives. The Bible says:

       Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his 
life for his friends.

  We had a lot of American citizens who laid down their lives to save 
other lives. What an enormous gift they have given. They did this to 
pay the ultimate price or make the ultimate sacrifice--to save the 
lives of other Americans.
  Thousands of people killed one year ago today. Why? Because they were 
Americans, because they happened to be citizens of the United States, 
because they stood for freedom, they happened to share freedom.
  Our country was attacked economically and militarily and politically. 
However, we survived that attack. The American economy is fine. Our 
American military stands strong. Our American democracy remains 
steadfast.
  My compliments to the men and women in the military who are 
protecting our freedom daily and who have done a fantastic job going 
after the culprits, those who are responsible for this attack, in 
Afghanistan and other places.
  My compliments to the administration, President Bush, Secretary 
Powell and Secretary Rumsfeld and others, who are going after the 
perpetrators of this crime--not just in Afghanistan, but in countries 
all across the world. My compliments to them for building up an 
international coalition of over 90 countries who are joining us in this 
attack, fighting the battle against terrorism throughout the world.
  There is a lot of work that has been done and a lot of work that yet 
needs to be done. This Congress needs to join with the administration, 
both legislatively but also in support in continuing this attack and 
this battle on terrorism. We are not finished. There are still a lot of 
trained terrorists who threaten our country. Unfortunately, maybe they 
have been brainwashed into thinking it is good to try to kill innocent 
people if they happen to be Americans, or maybe if they happen to be 
friends of Israel. There is a lot of hatred that has been fomented for 
a long time, and that is very regrettable, but it is important that we 
band together--people all across the world--to condemn and combat 
terrorism.
  I think the President has done an outstanding job, leading this 
country and leading the free world in that battle. I compliment him for 
it. We have a

[[Page S8497]]

lot of work ahead, but I am absolutely confident that freedom will 
prevail. We are a great country because we are a free country. We have 
greater freedoms--political freedom, economic freedom, religious 
freedom--than any other country in the history of mankind. I am 
absolutely confident, though, in 10 years from now or 20 years from 
now, we will still be able to say that we live in the greatest and most 
free country in the history of mankind. However, these freedoms have 
been attacked. Frankly, these freedoms have been under attack for 
several years. Now we are responding and we are responding strongly. 
Yet we still have a lot to do. I am confident that the people who 
challenge us will not be successful. Freedom will prevail.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Carper). The Senator from Oklahoma.
  Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I think my colleague from Oklahoma is 
exactly right. We can carry it one step further. We have these freedoms 
and that is why they hate us so much; they don't have these freedoms. 
The idea that individuals can have the freedoms we in this country have 
is totally alien to everything they believe in.
  I sat there as others did--I am sure my colleague from Oklahoma did 
this morning--and looked at the Pentagon, and I know what went through 
his mind and what went through my mind was the Murrah Federal Office 
Building in Oklahoma City in 1995. We lost about the same number of 
lives back then as we did in the Pentagon. There are a lot of other 
similarities there.
  The appearance after the airplane struck was so similar to that which 
we experienced in Oklahoma City. That brought back those very sad 
memories.
  I sometimes look at things and ask, How can anything good come from 
something as bad as all that? Yet I can see--it is obvious, as I saw 
the changes in attitudes of people here in this body, and also the body 
down the hall--they are reflecting the interests of the American 
people.
  I have been concerned for the last 10 years with the deterioration in 
the condition of our military. We talk about the authorization program. 
We talk about our end strength. We talk about the fact that we don't 
have a national missile defense system.
  Somebody very smart back in 1983 determined that there will be a 
day--and they put the date, fiscal year 1998--when we are going to have 
to be able to defend our people from an incoming missile. So we got on 
schedule to be able to deploy something to defend against a limited 
missile attack.
  We talked about land-based, air-based, space-based, and the AEGIS 
system, and evaluated all of these until the early 1990s when the 
program stopped. President Clinton was President at that time. He 
vetoed the Defense authorization bill. In his veto message, he said: I 
will continue to veto any bill that has money in it for a national 
missile defense system because there is no threat.
  Now we know there is. We know the threat is there, and we wish we 
could look back and say, Why didn't we stay on schedule where we would 
have to deploy by fiscal year 1998?--which is really 1997.
  We have been watching the deterioration of our military in terms of 
end strength and in terms of authorization. Right now, we are sending 
our troops out into battle with inferior equipment.
  My colleague from Oklahoma and I have both experienced the condition 
of our artillery system. It is one that has 1958 technology. You can 
think of it as Civil War technology where you have to run the barrel 
between each shot.
  I think even some of the military leaders in America do not realize 
how deteriorated it is. I think a lot of our leaders were not aware 
until September 11 that there are many other countries making more 
sophisticated strike systems than we have. Our best air-to-air defense 
and air-to-ground vehicle is the F-16. They now have the SU-27 and SU-
30. They are on the open market. We know that China has bought around 
240 of these. It is a very threatening situation.
  I can recall the day this happened. A year ago, we had the Chamber of 
Commerce in from the State of Oklahoma. They come up once a year. And 
they were over in the Hart Building. It was my turn to address them 
from 9 to 9:30. Senator Nickles was addressing them from 9:30 to 10. As 
I got to the end of my 30-minute speech, I ended it the same way I have 
ended my speeches since 1994/95; that is, today we are in the most 
threatened position we have been in as a nation in the history of our 
country. Just as I said that, I looked up, and I saw this billowing 
smoke--not knowing what it was, not even finding out until Senator 
Nickles ended his speech that in fact it was the bombing of the 
Pentagon.
  This mentality that has been permeating the Halls of both the House 
and the Senate--that somehow the cold war is over and the threat is not 
out there anymore--is something that people now understand is not true.
  When this administration came in, they saw our end strength and the 
problems we have in the military. We have to change our policy--which 
has always been to defend America against two MTW; that is, two major 
theater wars. Now it is to defend America against one theater.

  This is something that is not acceptable to the American people. And 
they find out. I know this, Mr. President, because every time I say it, 
they ask the question: Do you mean that we don't have that capability, 
and we have abandoned the policy we have had in this country for the 
last 20 years? I say: Yes, that is where we are.
  I think Secretary Rumsfeld was right when he testified before our 
Senate Armed Services Committee and said now we are trying to keep a 
military on a smaller amount of money relative to our gross domestic 
product than before Pearl Harbor. We are spending less today--3 percent 
of our gross domestic product--on our military.
  People talk about how much stronger we are than anyone else. There 
are not many other countries that do not spend more than that 
percentage. Historically, it has been between 4 percent and 5 percent.
  We are having a markup of the Defense authorization bill. I came over 
from there because I wanted to get on record as strongly as I can about 
the result and how we might benefit from this tragedy a year ago today.
  In this debate which we are in, we need to know if there is some way 
we can relieve the Guard at the gates at our military operations so 
they can go and relieve some of the Guard and Reserves who are 
overworked. Right now, there is not a Senator in here who hasn't heard 
from Guard and Reserve back home. They are overworked and overdeployed. 
They have lost their jobs. Many of these individuals have had to quit 
the Reserves and the Guard. Sadly, we are missing the critical MO 
authorization specialties. It is something we are going to have to do.
  But there is a mentality among people--and we don't disrespect those 
people who believe the threat is not out there. There are some people 
who honestly in their hearts believe that if we all stand in a circle--
all countries--and hold hands and unilaterally disarm, all threats will 
go away. I know that doesn't sound reasonable, but in Washington, there 
are quite a few of those around.
  I think the shock treatment we got on September 11 of 2001 brought us 
out of that. We understand what we are going to have to do. We are 
going to have to do a rebuilding.
  I think if there is anything to come to benefit us as a result of 
this tragedy a year ago, it is to remind not the people in this 
Chamber--they react to the people at home--but to remind people at home 
that we are in a very threatened situation and the most vulnerable in 
the history of this country.
  Secretary Rumsfeld said it in a way which I think is very good. He 
said the consequences of making a mistake now are far greater than ever 
before. He said they are minuscule by comparison--that the consequence 
of making mistakes in Somalia in 1993 was that we lost 18 soldiers. The 
consequence of making mistakes in Yemen in 1999 was tragic. We lost 17 
sailors. But he said the consequence of making a mistake right now is 
that we could lose hundreds of thousands of people.
  We need to move on and allow this tragedy in America to serve as a 
reminder to the people of America that we have to rebuild. We have to 
make America strong again to the point that we can meet the minimum 
expectations of the American people. We do not today.

[[Page S8498]]

  I only say, as tragic as it is, that the best way to ensure that 
those individuals who died--over 3,000--a year ago will not have died 
in vain is by learning the lesson and rebuilding and preventing a far 
greater catastrophe from happening again.
  Thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor, and I suggest the 
absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. LUGAR. Mr. President, it is a privilege to welcome a 
distinguished delegation from the Norwegian Parliament. Nine members of 
the Committee on Defense are with us today in the Senate Chamber. They 
have come to the United States this week as a part of an ambitious 
series of events which will include meetings at the Pentagon, the State 
Department, the National Security Council, and Central Command in 
Florida.
  They had been scheduled to leave Washington this morning, but they 
have changed their itinerary deliberately because they wanted to be 
with us here, the U.S. Senate, in the Capitol Building on this solemn 
day.
  As fellow legislators and close NATO allies, the Norwegian Defense 
Committee wanted to express its solidarity with Congress and with the 
American people on the first anniversary of September 11.
  I would like to read a letter into the Record from the Defense 
Committee of Norway.
  They have written:

       To the Senate of the United States:
       The Standing Committee on Defense of the Norwegian 
     Parliament wishes to express its deepest sympathy and 
     solidarity with the American people on this day of 
     remembrance--one year after the horrible terror attack on the 
     United States that occurred September 11, 2001.
       Let us never forget all those individuals who lost their 
     lives in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, including 
     firemen, police officers, and volunteers who tried to rescue 
     people from the flames.

  The letter continues:

       September 11 changed the world and international politics. 
     Norway is proud to participate in the broad coalition against 
     terrorism and does so by taking part in ``Operation Enduring 
     Freedom'' under U.S. command. The fight against terrorism is 
     a fight for democracy, for an open and free society, and for 
     human rights.

           Sincerely,
       The Standing Committee on Defense [of Norway]:
         Ms. Marit Nybakk, Chairman DC, Ms. Aase Wisloeff Nilssen, 
           Member DC, Mr. Bjoern Hernaes, Member DC, Mr. Kjetil 
           Bjoerklund, Member DC, Mr. Per Roar Bredvold, Member 
           DC, Mr. Gunnar Halvorsen, Member DC, Mr. Aage 
           Konradsen, Member DC, Mr. Leif Lund, Member DC, Mr. Per 
           Ove Width, Member DC, Mr. Joern Olsen, Secretary DC.
  I know that I speak for all Members of the Senate when I say that we 
deeply appreciate your support today. Your presence here reminds us of 
the importance of allies and the enduring bond between the United 
States and Norway.
  During the long decades of the Cold War, Norway was the only NATO 
member to border directly on the Russian Republic. This ``front-line'' 
position imposed a special burden on Norway, and its value as a member 
of the Alliance far exceeded the size of its population.
  The border between Norway and Russia is now peaceful and cooperative. 
Yet Norway still bears burdens from its history as a front-line state. 
In particular, it must contend with the environmental dangers created 
by the nuclear-powered Soviet-era fleet that is deteriorating on the 
nearby Kola Peninsula.
  In June of this year, I had the pleasure to visit Norway following an 
extensive trip to Russia. There I met with many members of the 
Norwegian defense establishment, including members of the Defense 
Committee. We talked a great deal about nuclear clean-up issues on the 
Kola Peninsula. Norway has been an invaluable partner in addressing 
this nuclear threat through its support for the Nunn-Lugar program and 
its participation in the trilateral Arctic Military Environmental 
Cooperation program or AMEC. Under AMEC, our country has been working 
with the Russians and Norwegians to safely dispose of the nuclear 
material from decommissioned vessels.
  We have had great success so far, but the challenges of safeguarding 
weapons and materials of mass destruction are immense. I am hopeful 
that our efforts can be expanded and accelerated, and I know that 
Norway will work closely with us to address these dangers.
  So we welcome the Norwegian Defense Committee and draw encouragement 
from their presence here on this day of remembrance. We look forward to 
all that we can accomplish together, as we strive to make the world 
safe from terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

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